Criticism of time ambulance took to reach injured man (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Criticism of time ambulance took to reach injured man

1:12pm Friday 11th December 2009

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A COUNCILLOR has lambasted ambulance cover in Teesdale which left a footballer suffering in agony with a broken leg for at least half an hour before paramedics arrived.

Coun John Shuttleworth, who spent two years unsuccessfully campaigning to retain an ambulance at St John’s Chapel in Upper Weardale, said he was horrified at the length of time it took for the ambulance to arrive.

Coun Shuttleworth claims it took 50 minutes for the ambulance to travel the 26 miles from Barnard Castle.

Ambulance officials insist it got there in 33 minutes.

It was decided last year to move ambulance bases down the dales to Stanhope and Weardale.

Spectators at Sunday’s St John’s Chapel versus West Auckland Station football match rang for an ambulance after a collision between players led to Christopher Lee, 31, sprawling in agony on the pitch.

“We heard the crack. It sounded as if his leg had been broken,” said Coun Shuttleworth, who insisted that the 999 call was made at 10.35am.

The injured player was carried into the pavilion.

The councillor, who is also chairman of St John’s Chapel FC, claimed that by the time the ambulance arrived at 11.25, 50 minutes had elapsed.

“If would have been okay if they had come from Stanhope, but clearly they hadn’t done that. They said the new arrangements would provide good cover for both dales, but they have been caught out,” Coun Shuttleworth said.

A spokesman for the North East Ambulance Service said: “We received the call at 10.43am and the ambulance arrived on scene at 11.16am. With the information we had been given by the caller, this incident was assessed as being neither lifethreatening or serious.

“The target to respond to these types of calls is one hour and the paramedic crew to this incident arrived in 33 minutes.

“Because of the nature of the injuries and the condition of the patient described to us, the ambulance did not travel under blue lights and sirens from its base in Barnard Castle.

“We assess every call on its seriousness so that those patients who need immediate help receive an ambulance as quickly as possible. In this case, we were told the patient was in a warm and dry shelter and that his condition was stable.”

“The ambulance crews in Weardale were already responding to higher priority cases. However, our systems show us that, had this incident been more serious, the ambulance would have travelled faster under blue lights and sirens.

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